2025-08-14 11:18:36
The New York session is not just “another trading window” - It’s the deciding session of the trading day - the point where liquidity peaks, institutional flows either complete the London narrative or flip the script entirely, and some of the day’s largest moves are delivered.
This is where liquidity peaks, market makers complete their daily accumulation-distribution cycle, and the biggest traps - or the cleanest moves - happen.
Understanding whether NY will pull back, continue, or reverse the London move can mean the difference between banking a day’s profits or watching them evaporate.
From an institutional perspective, the New York session is a liquidity completion phase.
For traders using SMC, the session is not about guessing - it’s about identifying what phase of the day’s delivery we are in and aligning execution accordingly.
Occurs when London has established a strong directional move aligned with higher timeframe bias.
SMC Tip:
Mark the premium/discount zones from the London move and wait for NY to trade into those areas before looking for continuation entries.
Occurs when London’s trend is strong, unopposed by higher timeframe zones, and liquidity is still resting further along the trend path.
SMC Tip:
On trend days, the overlap between London close and NY open often provides micro pullbacks into M5 or M15 FVGs - ideal for continuation entries.
Occurs when London has already reached or exceeded its liquidity objectives and runs into major Higher Timeframe supply or demand zones.
SMC Tip:
Reversals are higher probability when London’s move is against the higher timeframe bias - NY acts as the “realignment” session.
Occurs when the previous session (often London) has already completed its distribution phase, meaning most liquidity objectives for the day are done.
SMC Tip:
If the market is in sideways mode, avoid forcing trades. Either wait for a confirmed breakout with displacement or focus on smaller scalps around well-defined liquidity edges.
In the example above, we are seeing that the institutional order flow is bearish since EUR/USD has been in a downside momentum, basing from the size and consistency of the bearish candles.
This will give us a clue that the next day’s candle would continue to take out lows for bearish continuation.
Pro-Tip: Determine if the London session is in an Accumulation, Manipulation, Distribution phase. This will help you what’s the next phase in New York.
London Move | HTF Bias | NY Likely Role |
---|---|---|
Bullish trend day | Bullish | Continuation / Shallow Pullback |
Bearish trend day | Bearish | Continuation / Shallow Pullback |
Bullish into HTF supply | Bearish | Reversal |
Bearish into HTF demand | Bullish | Reversal |
Choppy London | Neutral | NY decides the trend |
The New York session is not random - it’s where the liquidity story ends for the day.
By breaking it down into pullback, continuation, or reversal phases, and aligning with higher timeframe bias, you can filter out low-probability trades and focus only on those with institutional alignment.
Instead of reacting to every spike at the NY open, let the market show its hand.
When London’s footprint, higher timeframe bias, and NY killzone setup all align - that’s when SMC traders find the cleanest, most decisive intraday moves.
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